We're only halfway through the decade, but it's already obvious that Minecraft is the biggest game of the '10s. Its creator, Markus "Notch" Persson has now been honored for his achievement with a cover story in Forbes. The piece reveals a few interesting tidbits about how he came to leave the game that made his name, including the fact that the $2.5 billion sale to Microsoft was prompted with a single tweet.

As soon as it was known that Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson had bought a $70 million mega-mansion in LA, it was only a matter of time before someone recreated it in blocky form. One dedicated player took up the challenge immediately and, in less than 24 hours, had a video up on YouTube comparing his digital incarnation shot-for-shot with a slick real-estate highlight reel. It's an accurate portrayal of the luxurious Beverly Hills pad, even if it doesn't quite match the ingenuity of some other Minecraft creations we've seen depicting Denmark, works from London's Tate gallery, and the first level from Super Mario Land.

It can be difficult for us commoners to fathom just how much money a billion is. So, if you need to see more than just a figure to fully digest the kind of wealth Notch got from selling Minecraft to Microsoft for $2.5 billion (yes, billion with a B), just take a look at his new Beverly Hills mansion. This is the house Minecraft bought, people: a $70 million estate with its own cinema, iPad-controlled fountains, automated glass doors, a panoramic view of LA and, best of all, a candy room, which is exactly what it sounds like. That amount includes all the expensive furniture and 90-inch TVs displayed in the mansion, along with cases of Dom Perignon champagne, because you don't celebrate buying houses like this with Two Buck Chucks.

Microsoft confirmed this morning that it's buying massively popular game Minecraft and the studio behind it, Mojang. The purchase amount is $2.5 billion. Don't panic: Microsoft says it "plans to continue to make Minecraft available across all the platforms on which it is available today: PC, iOS, Android, Xbox and PlayStation." Though Microsoft is purchasing the Minecraft intellectual property -- game, licensing, and any other rights involved -- it isn't getting the game's creator, Markus "Notch" Persson. A note from the Mojang team says, "Notch, Carl, and Jakob are leaving. We don't know what they're planning. It won't be Minecraft-related but it will probably be cool" (Carl Manneh is Mojang's CEO and Jakob Porser is a co-founder).

Earlier this year when the Facebook purchase of Oculus VR went down, there were more than a few detractors but none as prominent as the man behind Minecraft. At the time, Markus "Notch" Persson said that his company Mojang was in talks to bring the blocky construction set to Oculus Rift, but cancelled the deal because Zuckerberg's social network creeped him out. That's all changed now. Notch recently tweeted that he's officially over being peeved about the transaction, and was now more upset about a hole in one of his favorite socks (yes, really). That musing didn't go unnoticed by Oculus. Specifically, the outfit's chief technology officer and all-around game-industry legend John Carmack, who offered:

"Say the word, ship the source and I'll make sure it runs well on you-know-what..."

Chances are that if you don't play Minecraft yourself, you've probably at least heard of it or know someone who does. The charming indie game has invaded nearly every facet of pop culture, casting its blocky spell on everything from Legos to feature films and has even been used for tourism. With over 54 million copies sold, Sweden-based developer Mojang made $128 million last year largely thanks to Minecraft and has become one of the most successful game studios in the world. But what actually is Minecraft? We're glad you asked!

Markus "Notch" Persson is mainly known as the man behind Minecraft, but he's quickly developing a reputation for eccentric games that cover everything from speed typing to existential drama. If there's any doubt, you just have to look at his latest title, Cliffhorse. Yes, it's as absurd as the title suggests -- you play a horse pushing a giant ball around cliffs, and there isn't more to it than that. However, that barely-there design (which took all of two hours to build) is really the point. Persson describes the Windows-only game as a jab at developers who abuse early access programs by charging money for "minimum effort" releases, where most of the content theoretically comes later. And yes, he's aware of the irony given that he charged for Minecraft well before it was finished.

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Mon, 09 Jun 2014 12:44:00 -040021|20909065http://www.engadget.com/2014/04/30/minecraft-creator-trades-blocks-for-angst/%3Futm_medium%3Dfeed%26utm_source%3DFeed_Classic%26utm_campaign%3DEngadget%26ncid%3Drss_semi
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While the game's intro tells us, "There is nothing," there is a lot more to the little word game beneath the surface. Drowning in Problems is in fact Minecraft creator Markus Persson's entry in Ludum Dare. The contest is an accelerated game-development event where programmers create a game in a weekend based on a theme chosen by the community. The theme for this event, Ludum 29, was: beneath the surface. The game is set up with awards and costs: You start with nothing and by clicking Solve, you'll become not nothing. Clicking again gives you hope; hope gives way to a body; and you are born. The game continues this way, gradually growing in complexity as you give up things you've solved to advance in life, get a job, meet a lover and grow. From start to finish, it takes about 10 minutes to complete if you button smash, much longer if you take the time to follow the -- decidedly glum -- narrative. Hit up the link below to play it through, or, if you'd rather follow on to Ludum Dare to get the source code and learn more. And with that you'll have to excuse us as we take a bit of time to kill off some Creepers and Zombies to cheer ourselves up.

When Marcus "Notch" Persson cancelled 0x10c, he laid the blame at the feet of a "weird creative block" that hampered his game development. In his blog, however, he has revealed that it was the sheer weight of fan expectation that killed the highly-anticipated space-sim. The Minecraft creator was so concerned about becoming "another under-delivering visionary game designer" that he'd rather ice the project than do a George Lucas. Instead, he's going to concentrate on producing smaller games away from the public eye, adding that he's looking forward to playing Project Trillek, 0x10c's spiritual successor, when it's done.

After suffering a "creative block" with development of his 0x10c project, Markus "Notch" Persson has definitively killed the idea, saying he has "no future aspirations" for it. The keenly anticipated game involved space travelers who wake up after an eons-long hypersleep and have to deal with enemies and other problems aboard their spaceship. He broke the news to disappointed fans on a livestream, but some have decided to keep the idea alive via community effort called Project Trillek. While they'd drop the whole cryosleep bit, the team would keep the concept of a crew navigating space and managing their craft with a 16-bit CPU, Minecraft-style. We're glad it's not dead yet, but whether it can survive the vacuum of a Notch-less space remains to be seen.

Mojang's best known for the indie blockbuster Minecraft, but today heralds the launch of the open beta for its new game, Scrolls. It's been a long time coming, and the title itself was the focus of a courtroom squabble, as much as Notch would've liked to hash out the early roadblock in a rocket-filled arena. While it's admittedly not "feature complete," you can test your card-battling skills in casual and ranked online match-ups. The card trading forum is up and running, as is the in-game store for bolstering your deck using gold earned through triumph, and "shards" purchased with real dough. You can tweak your deck using the builder and 25 trials are available off the bat to school you in strategy. Access to the open beta will cost you $20, £13 or 15 euros, but really, you're buying the full game early, as all future updates will be free to beta adopters. The purchase page isn't live just yet, but it'll be available to download for PC and Mac at some point today. Hit the source link to brush up on the mechanics if you can't wait to attack the trials, or check out the trailer below for a quick fix.

Gamers have been waiting on tenterhooks for Markus "Notch" Persson's next offering, titled 0x10c, and while the Minecraft creator has detailed some aspects of the upcoming game, even he's not sure exactly how it'll end up. Newly released video footage (after the break) shows a first-person shooter aboard a spaceship, and the creators told PC Gamer that they'd "really like for stuff to go wrong," so that players can use creativity and resource-gathering, Minecraft-style, to fix it. Persson also said that the ship would contain a fully-programmable 16-bit computer (which sounds a bit like a recent Minecraft mod), and that multiplayer would be added early in the development. Apart from that, though, the team admitted "we don't know where 0x10c is really headed," and that they shouldn't "raise too many people's expectations." Based on the rampant speculation so far, it seems like that ship may have already sailed.

Microsoft just isn't getting much Windows 8 love from the game community, full stop. Following Blizzard and Valve anxieties, Minecraft developer Notch (the man on the left) is himself cautious about the shift to the Windows Store and the seeming discouragement of third-party outlets. Despite sharing an affinity with Microsoft for square-shaped worlds, he sees any further lockdown of Windows 8 as potentially "very very bad" for indie game developers and overall competition in the gaming business. Not that Notch is singling out the OS for concern: he's also maintaining his resistance to Valve's Steam and doesn't want the Portal creator to "rent games" instead of selling titles that buyers can keep forever. While Notch isn't adverse to producing games for closed systems when it's the only choice, he's joining a growing chorus of those worried that openness is on the endangered list.

Mojang has seen the sort of success that most game developers dream of with Minecraft, but it looks like it's now also found itself thrust into the rarely desirable world of patent lawsuits. As revealed by Minecraft creator Notch himself on Twitter, Mojang is being sued by the Texas-based Uniloc (which has also taken aim at Electronic Arts, Gameloft and others) over some alleged patent infringement in the Android version of Minecraft. That supposed infringement is not related to any of the distinctive gaming elements of Minecraft, but rather the means through which the game verifies users -- something Uniloc alleges is a violation of patent #6,857,067, a "system and method for preventing unauthorized access to electronic data." Not surprisingly, Notch has taken the opportunity to make his thoughts on software patents known (see his blog post below), and also make absolutely clear that he intends to fight the suit, saying that "if needed, I will throw piles of money at making sure they don't get a cent." That's also prompted a response from Uniloc CEO Ric Richardson, who notes that he had no direct involvement in this particular patent or suit, but defends the company's practices and insists that it is not a patent troll.

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Mon, 23 Jul 2012 11:24:00 -040021|20283904http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/18/minecraft-turns-1-0-digital-building-blocks-in-beta-no-more/%3Futm_medium%3Dfeed%26utm_source%3DFeed_Classic%26utm_campaign%3DEngadget%26ncid%3Drss_semi
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Minecraft mania has been in full swing for a while now, though lately, the hullabaloo surrounding the game was about its arrival (in somewhat neutered form) on both Android and iOS. However, fans of the full Minecraft experience can jump for joy because Mojang's title has officially left its beta days behind and has turned the big 1.0. The announcement was made by none other than Mr. Minecraft himself, Markus "Notch" Persson, at the first ever MineCon event, and the update is available now. Well, what are you waiting for? Your digital utopia won't build itself.

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Fri, 18 Nov 2011 19:45:00 -050021|20110350http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/27/bethesda-tells-mojang-to-lay-down-its-virtual-guns-lawyer-up-fo/%3Futm_medium%3Dfeed%26utm_source%3DFeed_Classic%26utm_campaign%3DEngadget%26ncid%3Drss_semi
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Time was, men could settle their disputes with glinting swords at the ready and their honor on the line. Nowadays, only the cosplaying and Comic Con attending folk alike are likely to burnish (elvish) blades, although they're rather inapt to sully them with enemy blood. Well, unsurprisingly, Mojang head Markus "Notch" Persson's modern day offer of a Quake 3 Arena simulated duel -- his proposed method of extralegal recourse -- was shot down by Bethesda, the company suing the Minecraft creator for use of the word "Scrolls" in its unreleased card game. As these are apparently sue-happy times, both parties are headed to court to battle it out, with Mojang facing the terrible repercussion of a forced product name change. From the looks of the defendant's Twitter feed, however, it doesn't appear the impending litigation's breaking this Swede's stride.

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Tue, 27 Sep 2011 18:11:00 -040021|20067835http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/18/minecraft-creator-challenges-bethesda-to-deathmatch-for-the-word/%3Futm_medium%3Dfeed%26utm_source%3DFeed_Classic%26utm_campaign%3DEngadget%26ncid%3Drss_semi
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While Samsung, Apple, HTC and others battle it out in court with lawyers and expansive patent portfolios, one man seems to know how real geeks settle disputes -- with a deathmatch. Markus "Notch" Persson, the man behind Minecraft and head of Mojang, has decided the best way to put the trademark squabble with Bethesda to rest is two rounds of three-on-three Quake 3 Arena action. The Elder Scrolls developer is sticking with the same tactics that have made smartphone companies our new least-favorite corporate citizens, but Notch thinks ownership of the word "scrolls" can best be determined with BFGs and railguns. With any luck this will catch on and, when Steve Jobs and Larry Page lead their forces into battle in Team Fortress, we're gonna have to put on our money on the Mountain View crew.

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Thu, 18 Aug 2011 16:59:00 -040021|20021143http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/21/minecraft-documentary-gets-a-20-minute-preview-needs-you-to-chi/%3Futm_medium%3Dfeed%26utm_source%3DFeed_Classic%26utm_campaign%3DEngadget%26ncid%3Drss_semi
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Do you love Minecraft? Wait, don't answer. We know the answer. Well, we know how you feel -- and so do the folks at 2 Player Productions, the documentarians that brought you the extra-special chiptune film, Reformat the Planet. The scrappy team of filmmakers has once again gone back to work, this time focusing their attentions on the gaming phenomenon and its creator, Markus "Notch" Persson, in a project entitled Minecraft: The Story of Mojang. 2 Player has taken its project to the streets (and by streets we mean internet) by posting a 20 minute teaser of the forthcoming documentary, and asking for funding via Kickstarter. Just think, you could be your very own Hollywood mogul. There are all kinds of goodies for those who lay down the cash; for instance, if you pledge more than $2,500, you'll get an actual pick axe mounted on a stand signed by the Mojang team. And for $10,000? You get an Executive Producer credit and your own profile page on IMDB. The project is aiming for $150,000 of funding, and has already scored $22,048 (at the time this article was written) with 32 days to go. If you were serious about what you said earlier when it comes to Minecraft, you owe it to yourself to put your money where your virtual mouth is. You can also take a look at a teaser clip after the break -- and that won't cost you a dime.

We only managed to take a couple of programming classes in high school before we realized that you couldn't do Friendster and code the next Super Mario Bros. 3 at the same time--so we decided to become bloggers. Luckily, some folks stuck with it long enough to be able to show off what a strictly limited social networking policy can do for the gaming world. Many of the competitors in the annual 48-hour Ludum Dare 18 competition took time-lapse videos of their coding experiences, and they're almost as entertaining as the games themselves: check after the jump for the thrillingly compressed making-of documentary for Notch's addictive Metagun. SPOILER ALERT: Apparently, Notch had time to sleep and eat. Bummer.